The sixth grade said “Vegetarians are idiots and “It’s not good not to eat meat.” The 11-year-old added that his schoolmate “should eat meat because he’d be smarter and have bigger brains.” The other child reported the statements from teachers at Lower Middle School in Montgomery Township which called in the team of ten anti-bullying specialists. They bullying specialist then concluded that the anti-vegetarian comments “were reasonably perceived as being motivated by a distinguishing characteristic between the two boys, namely vegetarianism, which substantially interfered with the rights of K.S. and had the effect of insulting or demeaning him.”

The discipline was relatively minor with five lunch time detentions. However, it worries me that we are making our children hyper-sensitive rather than dealing with opposing, even insulting, views. These are kids expressing adolescent views. Is it really something for a team of “bullying experts” to mete out formal punishment?

I am a great supporter of the effort against bullying and I have spoken on that subject in prior speeches. However, it seems like anti-bullying rules may be going the way of zero tolerance rules on guns where any criticism or taunting now triggers teams of experts on anti-bullying sanctions. It seems like this is a simple matter of raising the issue with the parents to say that the boy’s feelings were hurt or speaking with the offending student to help him understand how such comments can make another student feel. Instead, an investigation is launched and formal findings and sanctions issues.

This is where helicopter parenting has got us. Cuz no one dare let their kid figure it out or the state would give them new parents. Kudos to freds kindergarten teacher who said ” he is definately ok to walk home two blocks alone”…….(kindergarden)….. But cps is a goldmine….eventually they will snag someone who isn’t judgement proof. They like the patents who can pay child support..

Dave137 writes, “Vegetarians do realize that plants are also alive, right.” He overlooks two things: (1) plants do not have nervous systems, and therefore do not feel pain and are not conscious, and (2) if you are concerned about plants nevertheless, then you must become a vegetarian (or to starve to death). That is because meat-eaters kill far more plants than do vegetarians, because the animals whom they eat consume plants.